Chapter 9 - The Woman at the Lake
Lucas drove for nearly two hours.
The city disappeared behind them, replaced by narrow roads and thick forest.
Elena watched the signal on her phone vanish.
“Daniel doesn’t know where we are.”
“That is safer.”
“For whom?”
Lucas did not answer.
They arrived at a small wooden house beside a dark lake.
An elderly woman stood on the porch.
She had white hair, a long scar across one cheek and a shotgun resting against the railing.
When she saw Lucas, she did not smile.
“You were told never to return.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Her eyes moved to Elena.
The shotgun nearly slipped from her hand.
“My God.”
Elena stepped out of the car.
“Do you know me?”
The woman came down the steps slowly.
She touched Elena’s face with trembling fingers.
“You have Anna’s eyes.”
Elena’s throat tightened.
“You knew my mother?”
“I was her sister.”
Elena stared at her.
“My mother had no sister.”
“She told you that because she thought I was dead.”
The woman introduced herself as Rose Ashcroft.
Inside the house, the walls were covered with old photographs.
Nathan Ashcroft appeared in many of them.
He was handsome, with dark hair and a serious expression.
In one image, he stood beside Charles Morrison and Margaret outside the original Morrison factory.
They looked young.
Hopeful.
Before betrayal changed them.
Rose poured tea.
“Nathan and Charles built the company together.”
“Why was Nathan’s name removed?” Elena asked.
“Because Charles had money and Nathan had ideas. When the company became valuable, Margaret convinced Charles that Nathan planned to steal it.”
“Did he?”
“No. Nathan discovered Margaret was moving company funds into private accounts.”
Lucas leaned forward.
“Ashcroft Consulting?”
Rose shook her head.
“That came later.”
“What happened to Nathan?” Elena asked.
Rose looked toward the lake.
“He planned to take the evidence to the authorities. The night before he was supposed to leave, he disappeared.”
“Was he killed?”
“I never found a body.”
Elena held a photograph of Nathan and her mother.
“Did he know she was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
“He wanted to leave with Anna and raise you somewhere far away.”
“Why didn’t they?”
“Because Anna received a message saying Nathan had abandoned her.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“My mother believed him.”
“For years.”
Rose opened a metal box.
Inside were letters tied with faded ribbon.
“These were written by Nathan after he disappeared.”
Elena picked up the first.
“He was alive?”
“For at least three years.”
“Why didn’t my mother receive them?”
“Because every letter was returned.”
Rose showed her the envelopes.
Each had been stamped undeliverable.
“But the address is correct,” Elena said.
“Yes.”
Lucas examined the stamps.
“These were processed through Morrison corporate mail.”
Rose nodded.
“Someone intercepted them.”
Elena’s anger turned cold.
“Margaret.”
“Most likely.”
“Where did Nathan write from?”
“Different places. He was hiding.”
“From whom?”
Rose looked at Lucas.
“From the men Charles hired to find him.”
Elena stiffened.
“Daniel’s father?”
Rose gave a sad nod.
“Charles regretted it later. But regret does not bring back the years Nathan lost.”
The final letter had never been opened.
It was addressed to Anna.
Rose handed it to Elena.
“I could never read this.”
Elena opened it with shaking hands.
Anna, if this reaches you, do not trust Charles. Margaret knows about the child. She believes our daughter is the only person who can prove what we built belongs to the Ashcroft family.
Elena kept reading.
At the bottom, Nathan mentioned a ledger containing proof of ownership.
He had hidden it in the first place where Charles and Nathan had dreamed of creating the company.
Lucas frowned.
“The old textile mill.”
Rose shook her head.
“No. Before the factory, they worked in a rented garage.”
“Where?”
Rose looked at Elena.
“The Morrison mansion was built over it.”
Before Elena could respond, headlights swept across the windows.
Three black vehicles stopped outside.
Rose reached for the shotgun.
May you like
Lucas looked through the curtain.
Margaret stepped out of the first car.
